Have You Successfully Raised Your Hdl/lowered Your LDL Cholesterol Level?

My brother and sister both have incredibly high cholesterol, over 300 each. My brothers wife keeps homemade oatmeal cookies around. The doc told her too and his cholesterol is down to almost 200 now. He eats them all the time. The doc thought it was a good idea.

When I was in college my friend talked to the doc at the OSU student health center about her cholesterol and she told her to talk to a nutritionist. She did and the lady told my friend that the benefits of the oatmeal cookie, especially if it has raisins in it, far outweighs any sugar issues at all. The cookie is so healthy for a person that they could nibble them all day and they would only see health benefits from it.

You cannot use artificial sweeteners that is not good for you.

My body is a little wacky. Many of my friends are vegetarian, my husband would be vegetarian about 6mo a year, and I love to cook. What this breaks down into is that I'm usually vegetarian a few months out of the year solid, and vegetarian at least a few days a week.

When I'm vegetarian my cholesterol SKYROCKETS. I'm talking really, really, really bad. And the good kind is too low. It's vexing. Because I love vegetarian meals. (And, yes, I'm actually talking vegetarian bordering on vegan, these aren't cheese or dairy or egg heavy meals).

When I'm not vegetarian it's in the normal to low range.

So for ME... I have to make sure that I'm keeping my dietary choices balanced.

I've noticed my cholestrols are in their best ranges when I'm having red meat at least once or twice a week, seafood once or twice a week.

I realize this goes against conventional wisdom... but I suspect conventional wisdom is based on my mum's cooking. We're talking midwestern meat & gravy & potatoes & soggy veggies every day (LOVE you mum!). Don't get me wrong... my mum is a fantastic cook, but my dad is from the midwest and she cooks regionally for him (and always has, no matter where in the world we've lived). My dad also has a problem with LOW cholestrol (runs in his side of the family). His side eats a slab of bacon every morning, deepfies the eggs in bacon grease (omg... best tasting eggs on the planet), and that's just to start, and their cholesterol is always too low. I don't have that gene (sniff!)... but I ALSO don't eat midwestern style (or heavenly deep south style) very often.

ANYHOW... point being... my body tends to do best with moderation. Totally nixing animal fats and macadamia nuts (the only non-animal source of "bad" choloestrol) from my diet and my body wigs out and apparently starts producing a TON of it's own. :P And I also don't eat midwesternish or southernish more than once a month usually... although I will go on binges from time to time).

What I DO eat is a lot of ethinic food. Italian, greek, spanish, french, middle eastern, indian, thai, japanese, mesoamerican, caribbean. I blend American and South American (beef... it's what's for dinner) in at about the same ratio as the rest of it.

My dr told me to eat baked fish three times a week. Sorry can't tell you if it works or not because I have not done it. There is no way I can. I know I need to at least take fish oil pills. That's what my friend does. I would love see other responces to this.

Good luck and God Bless!

2 comments:
* I had cholesterol that was way too high, even though I only rarely eat red meat, I eat only whole grains, and almost no processed foods. Long story short, I ended up finding out that I have a hypothyroid condition. This often times leads to high cholesterol (among about 30 other symptoms). Anyway, once my thyroid was controlled by medication, my cholesterol promptly corrected itself into healthy levels. Have you had your thyroid checked? (Low thyroid function also leads to inability to lose weight, FYI.)

* Some people will have really high cholesterol almost no matter what they do diet and exercise-wise. My dad is one of those people. He eats pretty much vegan and exercises every day, yet his cholesterol is almost 300 when left untreated. He takes medication to lower it. You might be one of those people. If so, take the medication. The risk of heart disease isn't something to mess around with!

High cholesterol runs in both sides of my family so when mine tested at 180 decided to change my eating to see if I could lower it. Breakfast is usually oatmeal or 2 hard boiled eggs. Lunch tuna with a little mayo and lots of chopped celery on one of those 100 calorie sandwich bread flats, and dinner is a lean protein with lots of veggies. Sometimes there's a half cup of rice or half a plain baked potato with dinner but usually it's just a couple cups of veggies with some protein. I love beans so I eat a lot of those. No butter, no margarine. Olive oil for cooking and on salads.

I eat very little junk food, almost no cookies, candy, cake, ice cream, crackers, baked goods, etc. I opt for fruit or sugar free jello with fruit in it (always have a bowl of jello in the fridge for a quick sweet fix).

And the magic number now? 90. No medication.

My Cholesterol has been a bit wonky since on Birth control pills,it was under 200, now it is 210. However, I have high HDL's ranging from 53 to 62, depending on the year. I eat red meat on occasion, as well as chicken. Mostly I am vegetarian. I eat a lot of whole wheat foods, as well as spinach salads, lots of green vegetables. I take Garlic every day, and eat high fibered cereals for breakfast. I also make sure to use alot of the good " fats" , and use Extra Virgin Olive Oil on just about anything I eat. Omega 3's are very important in increasing the good cholesterol. Salmon is just about the best thing to eat. I eat it around once a week. Also Almonds are very good, and a good glass of red wine every now and then is known to help build good cholesterol levels. I also am a bit overweight, and am working on increasing my excersize daily.

Your actual reading is very good. I think with a little extra in your diet and excersize you will do just fine.

I did it. My overall was 200 with LDL about 125. I got back a bad EBT scan, plus have a family history of heart disease so my dr. wanted to put me on Lipitor. He gave me 6 months to lower my LDL to 70 or else go on meds. Here's what it did, and honestly, I was surprised that it worked and that I've kept my LDL around 70 for several years now.

More regular exercise but nothing heavy duty. I started walking or doing the stair machine 20-30 minutes almost every day.

Switched breakfast from a bagel and cream cheese every morning to homemade granola with walnuts, almonds and lowfat milk every day.

Limit red meat and ice cream to once a week. I splurge on Sundays, but don't overdo the portions.

More vegies. I like vegies so this was easy. Sometimes I just have a big plate of stir fry for dinner, and skip the lasagna or whatever the kids are eating.

Switched from putting cheddar cheese on everything to sprinkling a little fresh grated parmesan on my food.

I eat an apple before going to bed almost every day.

I snack on cashews, now. My HDL went up as a result.

It took several months for all this to work, but it's become a habit and I don't think about it anymore.

My results were the very best when I ate the original Atkins way. None ofthe Atkins products or fake sugars. My doctor said he was jealous of my levels!

I have not personally dealt with this issue, but i know quite a few people who have. they successfully brought it down by taking Phytomega Heart Health Supplement from Melalueca.
•Helps naturally lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels for a healthy cardiovascular system
•Helps reduce the risk of heart disease
•Powered by a patent-pending blend of natural phytosterols, omega-3s, CoQ10, and alpha lipoic acid

Here is the link so you can check it out for yourself :-)
http://www.melaleuca.com/ProductStore/Product.aspx?sku=215u
Hope this helps, if you want more info let me know & i would be happy to help you. have a great day!

My overall cholesterol was 296 in 1998. I was in my 20's.
For the previous two years and at the time I had it tested I was running 6 days a week 3-4 miles a day. My diet didn't contain much cholesterol at all. I hate red meat. I stay away of full fat dairy. My dr checked it twice to make sure it wasn't an error!
It wasn't. He really couldn't say exercise more. My diet was good. VERY little saturated fat (which is worse than eating foods that contain actual cholesterol). I went to nutritional counseling anyway and did everything they told me to. I took fish oil, garlic, & fiber and I couldn't take statin meds because I was trying to get pregnant.
My cholesterol didn't BUDGE. My grandpa died at age 42 of a heart attack. It's genetic. My body produces too much cholesterol.
I take 20mg zocor (the lowest dose, and generic too so very cheap) and it immediately went down to 152. It's only wavered within 4 points for years now. I'm still running and everything which helps a ton, my ratio has always been pretty good, just too high LDL, HDL has always been high enough and triglycerides low. It's just what I have to do if I don't want to die at my grandpa's age which is in 2 years! EEK!

Dammit!!!! I am so mad at cholesterol I can spit! I am a dance teacher, I weigh 140 and yet I have high cholesterol!

I honestly don't know what more to do either. From these posts I will now start adding oatmeal to whatever I can when I bake, I will buy the yolkless eggs, buy red wine and eat an apple every morning. I am at my wits end.